Saturday, 25 August 2012

I've
always thought that most people, regardless of sex, color or faith,
have a good heart. That's why it saddened me to hear that radical hate
groups and militias in America are growing in number. The demographic
change reportedly has something to do with it. Census figures show the
majority of babies born in 2011 were non-white. Hard economic times also
seem to be fueling the fire. Add to that a high unemployment rate and
the nation's first “black” president, and you have a solid foundation
for the expansion of extremist groups.
Racism, America's
longest train wreck, is still in progress. Personally, I think it's time
to put an end to the hatred and intolerance. The best way to do that?
We can start by flipping over a few rocks. One rock racism hides under
is called “racial purity,” the belief that the various races should be
kept clean by not permitting interbreeding. It's a more subtle form of
racism, like xenophobia, but it remains a big problem in this country.
Those who practice racial purity think ethnic groups are fine in small
doses, but only if they keep their distance.
A number of
religions privately “discourage” interracial relationships, and there
are many Americans who believe that mixed-race marriage should actually
be made illegal. Many mixed-race couples in the Deep South are still
struggling to feel safe and be accepted in their communities. Bob Jones
University, a fundamentalist college in South

Carolina, had a ban on interracial
dating and marriage. After being defined as a racist school they
eventually lifted that ban. The practice of racial purity is a
cancer that's spread throughout the world. Nations such as Pakistan,
North Korea, Japan and Iceland struggle to remain ethnically
homogeneous. Even Israel has separatism laws whereby they seek to keep
their own race pure. Non-Orthodox Jewish couples are forced to submit to
an Orthodox marriage ceremony with a rabbi and are compelled to attend
classes on family purity. Israel's parliament also passed a law
preventing Palestinians who marry Israelis from living in Israel.
Frankly,
all this obsessing over bloodlines is a big waste of time. Racial
purity is a myth. All life originated from Africa. We are descendents
from a limited number of people who walked this earth not so long ago,
truly brothers and sisters, cousins, nephews and nieces. Africans are
our ancestors. Modern gene sequencing has found multiple contributions
on every human in existence. All of us have genetic material from a wide
variety of populations. Biologically speaking, everyone is multiracial.
Even Larry the Cable Guy and Hitler.
This might come as a
shock to some, but there is no pure race. Which means there's no
superior race (great news, huh?). Many cultures, many individuals, yes,
but we're all mutts. Healthy mutts, thanks to our diverse DNA which
leads to a stronger resistance against diseases. It's the same for every
nationality. Russians are genetically related to Australians, and to
Chinese, etc.
So, why is there racism if we're all from the
same gene pool? For some it's an instinctual fear of losing
individuality and control. Others worry about old traditions and
ancestry vanishing in our fast-paced and quickly-changing world. Mostly,
though, I believe racism exists because of self-hatred. Hate comes from
within. When people don't love and respect themselves, they're probably
not going to love and respect others.
America has always been
know as the melting pot of races. It's becoming truer by the day as our
Hispanic and Asian American populations grow. Mixing races does not
destroy culture, it combines multiple cultures. Diversity makes people
more interesting, like mixing colors makes for a more beautiful
painting.
Eventually, we'll all be “people of color” and the
races of the world will be combined. Until that happens let's not haggle
over race or fight about skin color. None of us are thoroughbreds,
right? Not even the guy in the White House. Not that it matters one
whit. In fact, President Obama would be the first to explain that a
little multiracial blood won't kill you. If anything, it will make you
stronger.